Читать книгу The Kashf al-mahjúb: The oldest Persian treatise on Súfiism онлайн

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I have seen false Ṣúfís, mere tonguesters (arbáb al-lisán), whose imperfect apprehension of this matter seemed to deny the existence of the essence of poverty, while their lack of desire for the reality of poverty seemed to deny the attributes of its essence. They called by the name of “poverty” and “purity” their failure to seek Truth and Reality, and it looked as though they affirmed their own fancies but denied all else. Every one of them was in some degree veiled from poverty, because the conceit of Ṣúfiism (pindár-i ín ḥadíth) betokens perfection of saintship, and the claim to be suspected of Ṣúfiism (tawallá-yi tuhmat-i ín ḥadíth) is the ultimate goal, i.e. this claim belongs only to the state of perfection. Therefore the seeker has no choice but to journey in their path and to traverse their “stations” and to know their symbolic expressions, in order that he may not be a plebeian (`ámmí) among the elect. Those who are ignorant of general principles (`awámm-i uṣúl) have no ground to stand on, whereas those who are ignorant only as regards the derivative branches are supported by the principles. I have said all this to encourage you to undertake this spiritual journey and occupy yourself with the due fulfilment of its obligations.